UW-Platteville Building Projects Approved in JFC Building Commission PlanMarklein applauds committee's decision to support local campus

MADISON – State Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) thanked his fellow members of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC) today for adding two projects at the University of Wisconsin Platteville as a part of the Building Commission portion of the State Budget.

The JFC added the new Sesquicentennial Hall (Engineering) project and the Boebel Hall addition and renovation to be enumerated as a part of the state’s overall building program for university facilities. The committee approved $55 million for Sesquicentennial Hall and $24 million for the Boebel Hall project. The projects were not originally recommended by the Building Commission in early 2017.

“I am thrilled that all of the hard work to promote UW Platteville’s building projects was successful!” Marklein said. “These facilities will expand capacity for engineering and the sciences at UW Platteville. As we look at the Foxconn project in southeastern WI, these projects become even more important.”

“Ottensman Hall, which is current used for the Engineering program, was built in the 1960’s and Boebel Hall, which houses many other STEM-related courses has labs that barely support their basic needs.” Marklein said. “While the engineering program has made due and some of the labs have been modernized, the buildings cannot support modern laboratory curriculum and instruction. It also cannot handle any more growth and the UW Platteville engineering and STEM programs are flourishing.”

“I believe these projects are worthwhile investments. Nearly 75% of UW-Platteville engineering graduates over the past three years stayed in Wisconsin. 80% of incoming engineering students in the fall of 2016 are Wisconsin residents. The return-on-investment is the best in the state at 11.4% for in-state students,” Marklein said. “UW Platteville engineering students are employed by Wisconsin companies like the Kohler Co., Kimberly-Clark, Georgia-Pacific, Alliant Energy and more. The average annual starting salary is $57,000. When we invest in UW Platteville, we invest in Wisconsin.”